Method of making a mold for casting a shoe last



June 23, 1959 H. KAPLAN 2,891,285

METHOD OF MAKING A MOLD FOR CASTING A SHOE LAST Filed Jan. 4, 1956 v 3Sheets-Sheet 1 g 32 32 28 f 2s 28 32 s2 26 Q I INVENTOR.

HARRY KA PL A N i BY A A FIGQ?) 74%) ATTORNEY 2,891,285 METHOD OF MAKINGA MOLD FOR CASTING A SHOE LAST Filed Jan. 4, 1956 H. KAPLAN 5Sheets-Sheet 2 June 23, 1959 IJVVEN'TOR.

HARRY 'KAPLAN Y ATTORNEY June 23, 1959 H. KAPLAN METHOD OF MAKING A MOLDFOR CASTING A SHOE LAST 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 4, 1956 INVENTOR.HARRY KAPLAN Y ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,8 9 1,285 Patented ,June23, 1.9.5.9

fiice METHOD OFMAKING AMOLD'FOR CASTING A SHOE LAST Harry Kaplan,Philadelphia, Pa. Application January4, 1956, Serial No. 557,390 1Claim. (Cl. 1855.tl5)

My inventionrelates to-a method of making a mold for casting a shoe lastforuse in making shoes and more particularly for making shoes to be wornby persons having defective feet.

placedon one ofthe'foot supportsof the apparatus shown in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional View illustrating the first step incarrying out my invention, the foot itself being shown in elevation.

Fig. 5 is an exploded view tshowing the shell or mold formed accordingto the step shown in Fig. 4, after the same has been removed fromthe-foot.

Fig. 6, shows the two-part shell of Fig. 5 assembled and ready forpouring plaster of Paris or other setting material to. form a last.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of a last formed in the .Shfill ofFig. 6, 'theshell itself being renewed.

Fig. .8 shows the last of Fig. 7 cut .verticallyto .form separableinstepandheel portions to permit withdrawal of the last from the finished shoewithout destruction of thelast.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary and diagrammatic view showing a guage which isapplied to the knees of the person to be fitted so as to insure that thelast produced according to the invention will compensate for anydifference in length of the legs of the person.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 includes a platform 10 suitablymounted on a frame or pedestal 12. for supporting the various parts ofthe apparatus. The apparatus itself includes a pair of mats 13 and 14which are formed of extremely resilient material such as foam rubber orits equivalent to the end that, when a human foot is pressed on the mat,the upper surface of the mat will yield and will follow the contour ofthe sole of the foot. In other words, if the impression made on mat 14could be frozen before the foot is lifted, the upper surface of the matwill have a contour which is a counterpart of the contour of the bottomor sole of the foot. In Fig. 4 only two irregularities are shown at 16and 18, but this is only by way of illustration as the number, size,location and shape of the irregularities would obviously vary from footto foot. For the purpose of this application, it is only necessary topoint out that the thickness and resiliency of the mat need only be suchas to accommodate all conceivable deformations.

If a high heel shoe is to be made, two, or more, wedges 20 will be usedto raise the rear portion of the mat, as shown in Fig. 2, to the desiredextent. If a low heel shoe is to be made a smaller number of wedges areused used low-heel or fiatshoes.

2 and if a fiat, or heelless shoeisto be made, no Wedges are used.

In addition to providing for a heel of the desirediheight, the use ofwedges also serves to orientzthelast-according to the slantoftheparticularfoot. For example thezfoot of a person who has alwaysusedhighheelsacguires -.a configuration, or slant, which isdifferent-from the configuration, or slant, of the foot of.-a;personrwhohasgalways Therefore, a .last amade zas described will produce ashoe having athedesired orientation. This insures comfort to thewearerbecausetthe shoe structure will corresponditothe.foot stmcture.

Platform 10 also supports uprights 22 :and 24 whichare best shown inFig. 2 and which carryhorizontallyextending rods 26 and 28. Rods 26 and.28 are-adjustable-on uprights 22 andf24 inthe direction:ofiarrowsllinFigs. 1 and 2 by anytconventional means30. @Attheirjuxtaposed ends rods22 and 24 carry ;;p1ates SZivvhichare adapted to be clampedagainsttheilegs 34 of the person to be fitted to hold the same steady.Cooperating with clamps 32 is a combined clamp andlevel indicator whichis shown in Fig. 9 and whichrconsists ofla yoke36and pendant rods 38which are adapted to engage (the sides of the legs of thepersonsaboveztheknees. =R0ds 38 are laterally adjustable by :anysuitable means 40 -.so-.as to clamp each pair of rods againstone legatoprevent-tilting of the legs. Clamping the.legsqinthemannersshown inFigs. 2 and 9 prevents any movementdun'ngithe.casting of the last. Yoke36 is also provided -with=a.-spirit on other level 42 which willindicate whetherwor not .the tops of the knees are at the same .level.andif one foot is higher than the other, .theshort foot-is:raisedduring the casting of the last to produce alast-having a.-hi gh'e.rheel. This compensates for .the difference .in i the lengths .ofthelegs.

The method ofcarrying-oubmyinvention .withthe apparatus above describedis as follows.

The operator saturates strips 44 of .cloth or other flexible andabsorbent material with a fairly viscous gpreparation of plaster of.Paris in .watertor-with-someiother fairly quickly setting compositionand places the .strips on the surface of the .mats in such afashion'sowas to completelycover the surface oflmats 13 and r14- Thethickness of the strips, .or the thickness to which they are built up,should be such as to produce, whendry, the bottom of a shell or moldhaving the desired rigidity. The operator next places conventional toebox 46 at the places Where the persons toes will be during the formationof the mold. This is best shown in Fig. 4. Next, the feet are greased,with Vaseline or other substance which would prevent adhesion of theplaster of Paris to the skin, and are pressed down on mats 13 and 14.With the legs clamped as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 9, the operatorproceeds to apply additional plaster of Paris, soaked strips 48 to theforward part of the foot to produce shell or mold portion 52 of Fig. 5.

The rear marginal portions 54 of shell portion 52 and the edge 55 ofrear portion of the sole of the foot are now greased and shell portion56 is produced in the man ner described. Greasing marginal portions 54and the edge 55 of the sole prevents shell portion 56 from adhering tothe forward portion of the shell portion and to the edge of the sole sothat when the shell or mold hardens, shell portions 52 and 56 are pulledoff the foot intact as shown in Fig. 5. To form a mold in which the lastcan be cast, shell portions 52 and 56 are brought together and plasterof Paris soaked strips 58 are applied to hold mold portions 52 and 56together to form in integrated shell shown in Fig. 6. The inside of themold of Fig. 6 is now also greased to prevent adhesion, and it is readyto receive plaster of Paris or some other preparation to form the lastof Fig. 7. Prior to the pouring of the last 3 during the pouringoperation.

tudinal axis which is generally designated by broken line 60 in order tonarrow the mold in its transverse direction enough to compensate for theexpansion which takes place The longitudinal halves of the mold of Fig.6 are held .together by transversely wrapped strips, not shown,similar'to strips 44. Before plaster of Paris is actually poured intothe mold of Fig.

6, I place transverse wires 62 across upper edge 64 of the mold so as tosupport a plate 66 which carries pendant tubes 68 and 70. All of thetubes have enlarged lower ends 72 to anchor the tubes in the finishedlast. Tubes 68 are internally threaded for engagement with bolts 74.Tube 70 is unthreaded and is adapted for engagement with theconventional lasting pin which supports the last, in upsidedown positionduring the actual making of the shoe. With plate 66 carrying tubes 68and 70 supported on cross wires 62, plaster of Paris is poured until themold of Fig. 6 is completely filled. If desired, I may use spacedlongitudinal wires 76 to reinforce the last. Also, I provide blocks 78of wood, or other nail-receiving material in holes 80 provided in thebottom of the mold of Fig. 6 so that,-when the mold is removed, blocks78 will be embedded in the finished last. After the plaster of Paris hashardened, strips 58 are removed and mold sections-52 and 56 are removedto produce the finished last of Fig. 8.

In order to be able to remove the last from the shoe built thereon, Iremove plate 66 and bolts 74 and I cut the'last transversely as at 82. Apiece of leather or the like 84 is placed between the two portions ofthe last to compensate for the material which is lost during thetransverse cutting of the last; The forward and rear portions of thelast are again secured together by plate 66 and bolts 74 and the last isready for the building of a shoe thereon in the usual manner. When it isdesired to remove the last from the finished shoe, bolts 74 aredisengaged from tubes 68 and plate 66 is removed. 7 Next, the piece ofleather 84 is pulled out so as to give room for forward movement of theheel portion of the last to a position to permit its removal from thelast; The forward portion of the shoe is now moved rear- 'wardly withinthe shoe and removed. The portions of the last are re-assembled togetherand the last is ready for re-use.

The apparatus and method described in this applica- While making themold in two sections, as shown in Fig. 5, is satisfactory for mostcases, it is within the scope of my invention to make the mold in morethan two pieces. More specifically, if the foot has bunions or otherdefects which would make removal of section 52 or section 56 from thefoot difiicult, either of these sections could be made in two parts bybuilding one part, greasing its edges and building the overlapping partthereon in the manner described in connection with sections 52 and 56.

What I claim is:

The method of making molds for casting shoe lasts, which method includesplacing a pair of impressionable mats, one for each foot, on a rigidsupport, placing flexible elements which are impregnated with a quicksetting composition on each of said mats, vertically aligning the legsof a person in a sitting position with reference to the respectiveelements, horizontally aligning the knees of said person, clamping saidlegs in said aligned positions, greasing the feet, adjusting saidflexible elements to bring them into firm engagement with the soles ofthe feet respectively, covering the toe and instep portions of the feetwith fiexible elements which are impregnated with a quick settingcomposition, allowing said composition to set whereby first shells areformed which engage the sole, toe and instep of the feet respectively,greasing the rear marginal portions of said shells, covering the heeland ankle portions of the feet with flexible elements impregnated withquick setting composition, allowing said composition to set to formsecond shells, the front edges of which overlap the rear edges of saidfirst shells, removing said second and said first shells from the feet,respectively, and securing said second and said first shells together toform molds which correspond to the respective feet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

